Top Gear says sorry to Mexico

The BBC has apologised to the UK's Mexican ambassador over remarks made on flagship motoring show Top Gear that branded Mexicans as 'flatulent', 'feckless' and 'lazy.'

But the Corportation defended the programme's presenters, saying that national-stereotyping was part of British humour.

In a statement, the Beeb said: 'Our own comedians make jokes about the British being terrible cooks and terrible romantics, and we in turn make jokes about the Italians being disorganised and over dramatic, the French being arrogant and the Germans being over-organised.

''Whilst it may appear offensive to those who have not watched the programme or who are unfamiliar with its humour, the executive producer has made it clear to the ambassador that that was absolutely not the show's intention.'

In the programme, which aired on January 30, presenter Richard Hammond quipped that Mexican cars were a reflection of Mexico's national characteristics, saying they were 'just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent oaf with a moustache, leaning against a fence asleep, looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat.'